Participants from Seoul city and the Korea Food Service Industry Association hold a banner reading "Globalization of K-food begins with correct foreign language naming" during a joint campaign in Myeongdong on Wednesday. (Seoul Metropolitan Government)
The Seoul city government announced a campaign to promote standardized foreign-language names for Korean foods on Thursday, aiming to boost culinary tourism by providing accurate translations for international visitors.
The initiative, in collaboration with the Seoul Tourism Organization and the Korea Food Service Industry Association, runs until Nov. 1 and focuses on correcting mistranslations of famous Korean dishes.
Foreign tourists often encounter baffling translations on menus, including notable examples like "bear tang" for gomtang (beef bone soup), "six times" for yukhoe (beef tartare), "chicken a--hole house" for stir-fried chicken gizzards, "lifestyle meat" for raw meat and "dynamic stew" for pollack stew. These errors stem from literal translations or automated services, which fail to convey the essence of traditional dishes, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government.
The city also noted that while the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has introduced "shinchi" as the official Chinese translation for "kimchi," the incorrect translation "pao cai" is still in common use. The campaign will promote correct translations for menus that include this iconic Korean dish.
The city emphasized that correct translations are available online via the Seoul Foreign Language Dictionary. This resource includes 30,253 English entries, 28,900 Chinese entries and 29,610 Japanese entries, which city officials said can serve as a reliable guide for restaurateurs to ensure their menus accurately represent Korean cuisine in foreign languages.
As part of the campaign, Seoul city, alongside the Korea Food Service Industry Association, jointly reached out to restaurants in Myeong-dong, one of the primary shopping and tourism districts in Seoul, on Wednesday. To encourage the active participation of the city's restaurants, the industry group plans to continue this outreach across tourist-heavy areas in Seoul until Nov. 1. The city also plans to distribute multilingual digital menu boards to 400 select restaurants frequented by foreigners, with applications open until Nov. 15.
"Accurate naming is vital for introducing our cuisine to the world. We urge restaurants to play an active role in advancing Seoul’s culinary tourism by adopting standardized translations from the Seoul Foreign Language Dictionary and ensuring their menus accurately represent Korean dishes to international visitors," said Kim Young-hwan, director general of the tourism bureau of the city government.
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